Wild Bactrian Camel

Open encyclopedia reference

The wild Bactrian camel (Camelus ferus) or simply the wild camel is an endangered species of camel endemic to Northwest China and southwestern Mongolia. It is closely related but not ancestral to the domestic Bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus). Genetic studies have established it as a separate species which is similar to the Bactrian camel about 0.7–1.1 million years ago.

Currently, there are only around 950 wild Bactrian camels. Most live on the Lop Nur Wild Camel National Nature Reserve in China, and a smaller population lives in the Great Gobi A Strictly Protected Area in Mongolia. There are also populations in the Altun Shan Wild Camel Nature Reserve (1986) in Qakilik County, in the Aksai Annanba Nature Reserve (1992), and in Dunhuang Wanyaodun Nature Reserve (now Dunhuang Xihu Wild Camel Nature Reserve) contiguous with the reserve in Qakilik (2001) and a reserve in Mazongshan contiguous with the reserve in Mongolia, all in China.

Wikipedia contributors, Wild Bactrian camel; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:17:10.815051+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Camelus ferus Przewalski, 1878

Name authority

Przewalski, 1878

Common name

Wild Bactrian Camel

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Mammalia

Order

Artiodactyla

Family

Camelidae

Genus

Camelus

Extinction status

Recorded extant

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
9. subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
10. infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
11. orderArtiodactyla Owen, 1848
12. familyCamelidae Gray, 1821
13. tribeCamelini Gray, 1821
14. genusCamelus Linnaeus, 1758
15. speciesCamelus ferus Przewalski, 1878

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Camelus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 6 records assigned to Camelidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=898263 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:5WWKW. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.